Tag Index / Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results for “Shapeways”

The jury is still out on whether the maker movement could bring about a new American industrial revolution. But anecdotal evidence suggests it is well on its way to reinventing retail. Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson and Shapeways co-founder Marleen Vogelaar joined Detroit Creative Corridor Center director Matt Clayson and Ford’s open innovation guru K. Venkatesh Prasad for a “maker movement” discussion moderated by McKinsey & Company principal Lou Rassey at the Techonomy Detroit conference. More

3D printing has been posited as the catalyst of the next industrial revolution. To make a difference to America’s middle class, whose median annual household income has dropped by more than $4,000 since 2000, the technology will have to bring about an economy as bustling as the first industrial revolution. Fewer than one-third of Americans believe economic conditions will improve next year. Could 3D printing turn things around? More

Last week 3D-printing industry watcher Terry Wohlers told Techonomy "the sky is the limit" when it comes to the technology's potential to transform manufacturing. Today, tech reporter Christopher Mims says you can look for the heavens to open up in February 2014. That's when patents are set to expire on "selective laser sintering," the key to industrial-grade 3D printing. Laser sintering 3D printers, writes Mims, can take a designer "from idea to finished product in a matter of hours, and create finished products to sell to the public." More

The tech trifecta of Internet, cloud computing, and 3D printing tantalizes investors and consumers with the promises of lower distribution costs, increased productivity, reduced prices, and the free movement of information. But, as RISD President and Techonomy 2013 participant John Maeda argues in a recent LinkedIn post, contradictions abound for those in the business of creating goods and information. More

Chris Dixon is a New York guy with a degree in philosophy from Columbia University. He’s also, as of last fall, a partner at hot Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (which shortens its name to A16Z—16 is the number of letters between the A and the Z). All in all, that gives him a pretty interesting point of view on the big technology shift that’s being labeled the Internet of Everything (IoE). Dixon already has quite a track record as an investor and entrepreneur. He co-founded Hunch, which eBay bought for $80 million in 2011, and then started Founder Collective, a seed-stage venture fund. Alone or with a fund, he’s been an early-stage investor in Kickstarter, Pinterest, Foursquare, Dropbox, and Warby Parker. More

Designers have used 3D-printing websites like Shapeways to manufacture and market their wares for several years now, while some intrepid DIY makers have taken production into their homes by investing in desktop 3D printers from New York-based MakerBot. But 3D printing machines have yet to make their way into mass-market retail stores. Until now. Last week Staples announced that it will sell the Cube 3D printer, made by South Carolina-based 3D Systems Corp., in select stores. Priced at $1,299, the machine sells for almost half the cost of Makerbot's Replicator 2. More

Peter Weijmarshausen believes that 3D printing "is fundamentally changing the manufacturing ecosystem in its entirety." Several deep-pocketed investors agree. Weijmarshausen announced today that Shapeways, the 3D printing marketplace he heads, has raised $30 million in a series C financing led by Andreessen Horowitz. Existing investors Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, and Lux Capital also participated in the round. Since its founding in 2007, Weijmarshausen says Shapeways has seen a drop in 3D printing prices, an expansion of printable materials, and users upload over 1 million designs. More

The 3D printing company Shapeways today cut the ribbon on its new manufacturing facility in New York's Long Island City, a ceremony attended by Mayor Bloomberg and Empire State Development President and CEO Kenneth Adam. The 25,000 square foot "Factory of the Future" is set to go into operation in January 2013 and will house 30 to 50 high definition, industrial sized printers, according to the company's website. More

In the United States, online retail is experiencing double-digit growth. By 2015 it is projected to be a nearly $300 billion market. So what will drive future growth? The current evidence from leaders like Etsy and Fab.com suggest that e-commerce will grow via optimization: flash sales, subscriptions, social recommendations, crowdsourcing, advertorials, better targeting of customers, etc. Brick and mortar retail is also going through a slow reawakening with the advent of in-store mobile commerce. At a minimum, we can expect smarter experiences that tap into the latest and greatest from behavioral economics, big data, and improved technology (i.e., faster mobile, widespread broadband access, and ubiquitous displays). More